Although Groot Industries Inc. submitted documents stating it would file an official notice of intent Friday to seek approval for a garbage transfer station in Round Lake Park, the company didn't follow through as planned, officials said. It wasn't clear if the plan has been dropped or just delayed.

Groot was supposed to file the application because it wants to build the nonhazardous transfer station on roughly four acres at the northeast corner of Route 120 and Porter Drive in Round Lake Park. Officials said Groot's decision to not file paperwork Friday doesn't necessarily mean it won't pursue a transfer station in the village.

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Round Lake Park Mayor Jean McCue confirmed Groot hadn't submitted its request. She said she didn't have any details.

"It's up to Groot what they do from here on out," McCue said.

Company President Larry Groot could not be reached for comment.

At a transfer station, garbage is dumped by route trucks and loaded onto bigger vehicles that take it to a landfill. Groot Industries contends landfill capacity in Lake County is dwindling and it needs to be thinking ahead. Transfer stations are governed by state statutes. In a document submitted to Round Lake Park, Groot Industries said the planned facility would have a projected 20-year minimum life span, handling general municipal waste from residential, commercial and industrial sources.

If Groot Industries had filed its application Friday, state law would have required the village to hold at least one public hearing between 90 and 120 days after the document was received. Groot also would have had to pay a $100,000 fee to be held in escrow for expenses related to the hearing.

Meanwhile, opponents to the trash transfer station in Round Lake Park have mobilized.

At a Lake County Solid Waste Agency agency meeting Thursday evening in Hainesville village hall, area residents who spoke during public comment time voiced concern about truck traffic, odor and other problems resulting from the garbage transfer facility.

SWALCO board Vice Chairman Glenn Ryback, who is Wadsworth's mayor, said a majority of the speakers were from Hainesville, Round Lake and Round Lake Park.

"It was not well received by many folks," Ryback said of the garbage transfer station.

SWALCO Executive Director Walter Willis said the agency's board -- in part comprised of officials from 42 Lake County communities -- approved a staff recommendation to oppose Groot's transfer station because it would not be consistent with an updated regional plan for such facilities. He said the preference is for Groot to meet provisions established by the solid waste agency if it continues to seek the transfer operation in Round Lake Park.

In part, SWALCO contends a 2009 regional plan for garbage transfer stations requires the agency to have a "host agreement" for the facility, along with Lake County government and the host community. SWALCO stated Groot only entered into an agreement with Round Lake Park.

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